From BALCO to Manti T’eo, everyone loves to talk about a good sports scandal. After all, everyone’s team has down years, and what are fans supposed to do then?
Here’s our take on the biggest sports scandals of the modern era, skipping athletes accused of murder.
10. Tiger Woods sex scandal. It crushed the golf game of the greatest golfer of our time. Still hasn’t recovered.
9. Saints “Bountygate”. NFL players get paid to hurt people? I’m shocked, shocked!
8. Pittsburgh drug trials. This shone a spotlight on the cocaine culture in sports in the 80s. Resulted in baseball’s first drug policy.
7. Tonya Harding. Who knew ice skaters could be so violent? Wicked Hahdcoah.
6. Manti T’eo “girl” “friend” scandal. The most fun a scandal can be without actually harming anyone.
5. Miami NCAA investigation foulup. Just in its infancy, this has the potential to blow up the NCAA as a governing body, if it was not already going down that road because of the BCS.
4. Kobe Bryant rape accusation. It took him years to recover his reputation, endorsement deals, and on the court game.
3. BALCO. Down goes Bonds, down goes Bonds! McGuire, Tejada and the rest showed us why baseball records of the 90s and 2000s could not be trusted.
2. Michael Vick dogfighting. How fast could Vick fall? He lost hundreds of millions of dollars and hasn’t been the same since.
1. Lance Armstrong doping. Sued people who accused him of doping, then admitted it. The chutzpah, the callousness, the buildup… this may have turned a whole generation of young sports fans cynical. Gave us something to believe in then took it away. Dope, indeed.
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